Saw Pale Rider in first-run, thought it was a decent Shane rehash. Just saw Outlaw Josey Wales last year, found it riveting in parts, hackneyed and offensive in other parts. High Plains Drifter however is one of the two or three Eastwood films (Firefox is another) I haven't yet gotten to yet. I've mostly watched old…

As I noted in the piece, Goldman was in no way being derogatory. He *loves* Eastwood, was praising his speed and no-nonsense approach to filmmaking. He just happened to say something that reinforced a feeling I'd long had about Eastwood as director. And then I was startled and dismayed to find it even influencing my…

I can appreciate that crew members love Eastwood's efficiency, but I'm not working on his sets. I'm looking at the finished product. And the finished product, much more often than not, looks half-assed to me. Obviously if I were regularly blown away by the films I wouldn't be objecting to his speed on general…

I'm no fan of the ending either. The irony is pat to begin with, and the execution, as you say, takes it ridiculously over the top.

When you reach the final season, you will discover that the ENTIRE SHOW has been building to a single astonishing moment. (This is in the penultimate episode, not the finale.) And that moment is quite possibly the most powerful dramatic experience I've ever had, in any medium. Precisely because there was six years of…

My personal experience with almost every show is that most episodes have a consistent feel no matter who directs them. There are exceptions—Rian Johnson's episode of Breaking Bad was quite distinct visually, for example, though that's probably at least in part just because it was a bottle episode and he was restricted…

Friday Night Lights
I'm entirely in Scott's corner when it comes to starting a series from S01E01, if only because I'm way too anal-retentive to wade in midstream. But Noel does have a valid point. I nearly abandoned Friday Night Lights after the first three episodes, which I found utterly mediocre-couldn't even…

Unfortunately, I didn't see anything at all in the Fortnight, apart from the first two reels of Lily Sometimes this afternoon. I'm a Competition completist, and UCR was unusually robust this year in terms of auteurs, so I just never had time (given my blue badge and the 2-3 hours required for each day's blog post) to…

Boxing Gym screens today, but at a really inconvenient time — not sure I can make it. One friend who's seen it claims it's pretty ehh by Wiseman's standards.

It ain't doing so hot in the Screen International poll, either. (International group of critics, only one from France.) 2.3 average out of 4. Though, granted, so far Mike Leigh's film (3.4) has managed to crack 2.5. That's the kind of year it's been so far.

ALL OR NOTHING is definitely the previous Leigh film this new one most resembles, though it's not quite as relentlessly downbeat.

I've now heard from multiple sources that the Nakata film, CHATROOM, is the worst movie of the year, not just at Cannes but anywhere. And yet I still may wind up seeing it, just because there's nothing else in that slot.

That film isn't available on DVD, is the problem. Not sure they have a means of creating a clip from ancient VHS.

My problem with Greenberg isn't so much Greenberg himself as Florence (the Greta Gerwig character) and the way she passively accepts his abuse. The day after he insults her and walks out of her apartment she's telling her best friend how much she likes him. (At least the friend's response is rational — something like…

erratum
"Gondry never fully gets across why the specifics of this family history should interest anyone outside his circle."

Regarding Mad Dog and Glory: I read Price's original screenplay when I was in NYU's Dramatic Writing Program in '92, before the movie came out, and it remains the best script I've ever read. Every single thing that was interesting or distinctive about it failed to make it into the completed film. The thing was just…

I don't create the stills and clip for this feature, but I can only assume the person who does handed you that on purpose. Nice. You can barely even see it in the actual film.

I've seen Losey's remake of M. Nowhere near as great as the original, of course, but it has some powerful moments of its own.

I knew about the Schufftan process, but I'd thought it was used mostly in the exterior shots. If the shots in this sequence were done with mirrors, that's damn impressive.

To be clear, I love Metropolis and watching it wasn't homework at all. That's why I chose it in the first place. (Well, that and I had the DVD handy—I would have done The Wind if that were readily available.) It's just that even here, the performances made me realize why I generally have to force myself a little bit…